If you've applied for a visitor visa to travel to another country, you know that waiting for your application to be approved can be a nerve-wracking experience. However, instead of stressing over the unknown, you can make the most of your time by doing some productive and fun activities while you wait for your visa to be approved. In this article, we'll share with you the top five things you can do while waiting for your visitor visa to be approved. 1. Research Your Destination One of the best ways to prepare for your trip is to research your destination thoroughly. Use this time to learn more about the culture, customs, and attractions of the country you're planning to visit. Researching your destination beforehand can help you plan your itinerary, make reservations, and ensure that you're fully prepared for your trip. 2. Plan Your Travel Itinerary While you're waiting for your visitor visa to be approved, take the time to plan your travel itinerary. Consider the places you want to visit, the activities you want to do, and the experiences you want to have. Planning ahead can help you make the most of your trip and ensure that you don't miss out on any must-see attractions or experiences. 3. Brush Up on Your Language Skills If you're traveling to a country where a different language is spoken, use this time to brush up on your language skills. You can enroll in a language class, hire a tutor, or use language learning apps to practice speaking and understanding the language. Not only will this help you communicate better during your trip, but it will also enhance your overall experience. 4. Explore Your Local Area While waiting for your visitor visa to be approved, take the opportunity to explore your local area. Visit museums, art galleries, and other local attractions. Try new restaurants and cafes, and attend local events and festivals. Exploring your local area can help you appreciate the unique culture and experiences that your own country has to offer. 5. Plan for the Unexpected Finally, use this time to plan for the unexpected. Purchase travel insurance, make copies of important documents, and prepare a packing list. Having these items in order ahead of time can help you feel more prepared and organized for your trip, and give you peace of mind during your travels. While waiting for your visitor visa to be approved, it's essential to stay positive and productive. By researching your destination, planning your travel itinerary, brushing up on language skills, exploring your local area, and planning for the unexpected, you can make the most of your time and prepare for an unforgettable travel experience. Don't let the waiting game get you down; instead, take this time to prepare for the adventure of a lifetime.
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Canada welcomes millions of visitors, tourists, workers, students and immigrants each year. Nevertheless, Canada has admissibility requirements that each foreign national must meet before they are allowed to enter the country. Such requirements include passing a criminal background check and undergoing medical examinations. Criminal InadmissibilityIf you are a foreign national who has been arrested or convicted of a criminal offence, you may be considered criminally inadmissible to Canada. Foreign convictions and arrests are compared to Canadian laws and standards when determining an individual’s criminal inadmissibility and an equivalent is found under the Criminal Code of Canada. If your offense is equivalent to a summary offense and it is your only criminal conviction, you may be considered admissible to Canada and will not require permission to enter the country. If the offense is equivalent to an indictable offence, which is defined as serious criminality, you may be considered inadmissible to Canada and will require permission to enter the country. What an individual must do to overcome inadmissibility will depend on the classification of the offence (serious versus non-serious) and the time that has elapsed since the completion of a sentence (includes probation, fines, etc.). The three main ways to overcome inadmissibility to Canada are:
Temporary Resident Permit ApplicationA Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) is an option for an individual considered criminally inadmissible as it grants temporary access to Canada for a certain period of time. A TRP is used in situations where a traveler has a valid reason for entering into Canada and the benefits of their entry outweigh any risks to Canadian society. A TRP application can be granted for up to three years, depending on the reason of entry. A person can apply for a TRP at any point and does not require the completion of a criminal sentence. Criminal Rehabilitation ApplicationThe Canadian Government offers the opportunity to submit a criminal rehabilitation application to permanently clear your past criminal history for the purposes of entering Canada. The criminal rehabilitation application is a one-time solution that does not require renewal. Upon receiving approval for criminal rehabilitation, an individual is no longer considered inadmissible and would not require a TRP for entry into Canada. In order be eligible for criminal rehabilitation, you must meet the following criteria:
Legal Opinion LetterThe legal opinion letter, which is drafted by a Canadian immigration lawyer, will explain the consequences of a conviction for the Canadian immigration purposes. It will refer to relevant sections of Canadian law to help the official decide how to respond to charges and how different outcomes (conviction, sentencing, etc.) would affect their ability to come to Canada. The letter can even suggest alternate infractions that would not render the individual inadmissible to Canada. The effects of inadmissibility can have severe effects on employment as well as ability to see family members in Canada, so the letter can appeal to a judge’s compassion and be taken into consideration when deciding on an outcome.
Immigration Advocates Head to New Orleans as Federal Court Hears Oral Arguments in DACA Case7/6/2022
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Dozens of Houston's immigration advocates will be heading to New Orleans overnight, as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals prepares to hear oral arguments in the Texas case challenging the legality of DACA. FIEL Houston and Woori Juntos, the two organizations participating in this trip, said they will be marching and rallying outside the courthouse during the hearing on Wednesday morning.
FIEL Houston's executive director, Cesar Espinosa says this hearing is personal. As a "Dreamer" or DACA recipient, he said if the program is rescinded, the impact would extend beyond the immigrant community. "It's important for us because our lives are at stake. If this court gives a bad ruling, then obviously, we're going to challenge it as it goes up to the Supreme Court. But with the way the Supreme Court has been deciding a lot of the cases recently, this could be life-altering for not only myself, but for the other 750,000 DACA recipients around the country," he said. "These are people who have been contributing economically for the last 10 years and more. They have families here and are Americans by any other means, except for their papers." That's one of the reasons why he will be traveling with about 40 people from Houston to New Orleans. They plan on leaving at 2 a.m. and arriving at 8 a.m. Wednesday, shortly before the hearing begins. It's not their first time making a trek like this to demonstrate. They've traveled to Austin and Washington D.C. before too. Woori Juntos, a local Korean-led organization will be joining them this time around. "When people think of DACA, they think of the Hispanic and Latino community. But that is not actually true. There are so many Asians who are DACA recipients too," Hyungja Norman, the executive director of Woori Juntos, said. "We struggle every day in this country to live as an immigrant. I am an immigrant also. So I cannot be silent when our community is under attack." Espinosa said although it's highly unlikely that the judge will make a ruling on the case on Wednesday, their presence is all about putting faces to the issue. Sen. John Cornyn’s, R-Texas, office on Wednesday denied that a bipartisan immigration bill is in the works after comments he made on the Senate floor that his staff say were a joke, but that sparked uproar from conservatives.
Cornyn, who frequently attempts to find bipartisan paths for legislation on a range of issues that includes immigration, was on the Senate floor Tuesday evening as the chamber advanced bipartisan gun legislation that he had helped shepherd. HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic tweeted that Cornyn was smiling as he told California Sen. Alex Padilla: "First guns, now it’s immigration." Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was said to have added "That’s right, we’re going to do it." Cornyn’s reported comments drew swift backlash from the right, many of whom were already angered by his support for the gun legislation which advanced 64-34 in the split chamber. Cornyn has previously backed bipartisan immigration efforts, including a border security bill, which he introduced with Sen. Sinema to combat the migrant crisis at the southern border. He has also backed a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who came to the country as children and who were eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance said on Fox News’ "Ingraham Angle" that it would be "catastrophic" for the Republican Party to "advance amnesty." "The worst thing that we can do as a party right now in the midst of a historic immigration crisis is to advance amnesty. And if we do it, we will get crushed and we will deserve it." House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, meanwhile, appeared to distance himself from any such efforts: "Amnesty is a non starter with me and won’t be taken up by a House Republican majority," he told Axios. Immigrants looking to work in the long-term care industry would see some barriers lowered, including costs and licensing requirements, under a trio of recently introduced House bills. The proposals were introduced Thursday by Reps. Adam Smith (D-WA) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and are designed to bring more workers into the healthcare industry amid a severe workforce shortage. The first measure, dubbed the Immigrants in Nursing and Allied Health Act, would create a grant program to help cover the costs of licensing, certification, training and education provided to immigrants looking to work in healthcare The program also would open eligibility for the National Health Service Corp. to non-US citizens. The second proposal, the International Medical Graduate Assistance Act, would incentivize states to create temporary licensing programs for internationally educated immigrants with medical degrees. The programs would allow them to practice under supervision, while they complete the necessary certification and training requirements for a US medical license. It would also establish guaranteed medical residency slots for international medical graduates in the established state program to practice in predominantly medically underserved communities and provide grants to help cover the costs of necessary training. Providers attending the American Health Care Association’s Fly-in in Washington, DC, last week said they needed some way to address disparities in education and allow foreign providers to get licensed in the US more quickly if they earned degrees in another country. The final proposal, the Professional’s Access to Health (PATH) Workforce Integration Act, would provide training and counseling opportunities to internationally trained health professionals that are US citizens and immigrants legally residing in the country. It would also educate employers on the abilities and capacities of health professionals who have been educated overseas. All proposals have been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The measures were also detailed by LeadingAge in a blog post Friday. “We must do everything we can to support healthcare workers, combat staffing shortages, and rebuild our healthcare system,” Smith said in a statement. “One way we can do that is by reducing barriers to employment for immigrants looking to enter the healthcare field.” Huge CrisisAn AHCA staff member last week described the issue as a “huge supply crisis” and said her organization is “pushing very hard between our refugee work and trying to get partnerships there with Afghanistan coming, Ukranians that are coming and this immigration bill.”
AHCA has worked with the State and Labor departments and Citizenship and Immigration Services to encourage faster progress in addressing a backlog of applicants that grew during COVID. The citizenship agency has instituted new practices since late March and received an additional $275 million to target the backlog. “We are starting to see with this funding, with more COVID (reopenings), that more people are getting nurses from overseas. The consulates aren’t doing just virtual work now,” Dana Ritchie, senior director of not-for-profit and constituent services said in reply to an audience question at a Fly-in session on June 6. “I’m hearing some positive news, not in all markets, but from some providers, that they are starting to get nurses.” FAIR Comments on Rule Designed to Encourage More Illegal Immigration and Fraudulent Asylum Claims6/2/2022
Yesterday the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) submitted a public comment in response to an interim final rule (IFR) that is explicitly designed to facilitate the release of asylum seekers at our southern border, many of whom submit fraudulent or frivolous claims.
The Biden administration proposed a new regulation in 2021 to allow asylum officers – the most open borders contingency in the federal government – to grant full and immediate asylum at the southern border. The goal is to circumvent immigration courts so asylum officers can get to "yes" under the rules the Biden administration has written, instead of the law. In response, FAIR filed a public comment urging them to rescind the proposed rule, and instead implement reforms that will actually discourage illegal immigration into the United States, remove incentives to submit fraudulent or frivolous asylum claims, and regain order at the southern border. They didn't listen. Instead, the Biden administration issued an interim final rule with little deviation from their goal to allow in as many illegal aliens as possible under the guise of legality. "Under the Biden administration, illegal immigration has soared to levels not seen in decades. Asylum abuse is rampant as the administration has shown minimal effort to protect the integrity of our legal immigration system. Instead, by proposing rules like this, they are clearly trying to dismantle immigration enforcement at the border in its entirety," charged Dan Stein, president of FAIR. Anyone trying to become a permanent resident of Canada will no doubt run into the term “Express Entry” more than once. It is easy to assume that Express Entry is its own immigration program but, surprisingly, this is not correct. Understanding what Express Entry is, and how it works, is a vital step before submitting an application. Express Entry Is a System, Not a ProgramExpress Entry is an application management system introduced by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in 2015. It was brought in after it was found that the existing system was not efficient in processing the overwhelming number of applications that IRCC receives. In the past, Canada reviewed every single application that was submitted, regardless of whether or not an applicant met a baseline of qualifications. This meant that processing times for all applicants could take over five years. How Does Express Entry Work?Express Entry is not as complicated as it appears at first glance. The first step is to find out if you are eligible. You then need to complete your profile to express your interest in applying for status as a permanent resident in Canada. You will then get a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. Roughly every two weeks, IRCC invites the highest-scoring candidates to apply. Here Is a Simplified, Step-by-step Breakdown of the Express Entry Process.Step 1: Check if you are eligible for Express Entry. Each of the three Express Entry-managed programs will have its own minimum eligibility criteria. You need to be eligible for at least one.
Step 2: Complete your language testing and get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA). Step 3: Submit your profile to the IRCC website. Step 4: Wait to see if you receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence from IRCC. Step 5: If you receive an ITA, submit your completed electronic Application for Permanent Residence (e-APR) to IRCC and pay your fees within the 60-day deadline. You need to include your medical exam and police certificates as part of this step. IRCC will then provide you with an Acknowledgment of Receipt (AOR). Step 6: Submit your biometrics once IRCC asks you to do so. Step 7: Wait for IRCC to make a final decision on your application. Once it is approved you will receive a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) and a permanent resident visa (if you are from a country that requires a visa) so you can complete your landing. Liberals are unhappy, Republicans are weaponizing the issue and a dispute over a Trump-era border policy has caused some Democrats to split with the president.
President Joe Biden won the White House while chastising his predecessor’s border policies as inhumane and out of step with American values. But now the issue of immigration has devolved into a political headache for him that is undercutting a centerpiece of his agenda and causing vulnerable Democrats to split from him. The president faces a two-track challenge: The Democratic base is unhappy with the lack of progress on pro-immigration goals, and the Republican electorate is fired up over the issue as the party’s lawmakers and media figures stoke fears of migration. Surveys indicate most Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of immigration, including one conducted by a firm affiliated with the president, commissioned by an immigrant rights group. A Pew Research Center poll last month found that 68 percent of Republicans rated immigration as “very important” to their vote in the 2022 elections, compared to just 34 percent of Democrats. The National Republican Campaign Committee has tested attacks and “contrast” messages about the border. In March, its poll of battleground districts found that 78 percent of voters were more likely to back a Republican candidate who works to “stop dangerous cartels from bringing drugs into America.” And 86 percent back “securing our border to stop drug smuggling and human trafficking,” according to a findings shared with NBC News by a source familiar with the poll. Asked how immigration affects his plans in the 2022 election, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm that seeks to capture control of the chamber, said that “the border is going to be a bigger issue” because “the perception is this administration doesn’t care about having a secure border.” The effort could significantly reduce a backlog of asylum and deportation cases as the Biden administration anticipates a huge surge of migrants crossing the border.
The Biden administration is seeking to clear potentially hundreds of thousands of deportation and asylum cases pending before immigration courts, an unprecedented move that could significantly reduce the current backlog of 1.7 million cases. In a memo dated Sunday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement directed its lawyers to review cases and try to clear those considered low priority under enforcement guidelines that the administration established last year. The American Immigration Lawyers Association estimates that there are at least 700,000 such cases — about 40 percent of the court backlog. The agency would not provide an estimate of how many cases would be cleared under the directive or how long it would take. Previous administrations have moved cases off the court docket but not on such a broad scale. During the eight years of the Obama administration, more than 166,000 immigration cases were administratively closed, according to court data. The court backlog has ballooned to the largest ever, causing yearslong delays for immigrants seeking asylum and other forms of relief. One reason is that the coronavirus pandemic has delayed proceedings. A significant number of cases were added during the Trump administration, especially after a surge in undocumented migrants crossing the border in 2019. That administration also reopened tens of thousands of cases that had been removed from the court docket. |
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